Caterpillar Cowboy

shorterexcerpts:tanya77:soupsoup:jessiefuller:nom-nom-nom:

please, please, spread the word.

The 3/50 Project

So this has been going around the last day or so, and I’ve resisted saying anything, but now I’ve just seen it too many times…

First of all, this feels like a bailout to me. The internet has create a platform for the rise of a global economy, and the market naturally becomes more efficient as a result (hence, stuff gets cheaper). Small businesses (which I love, evidenced by my former employment at Etsy and current work at waffl) can’t compete on price because they don’t have the economies of scale that big corporations have. So this poster is trying to artificially drive dollars to these small businesses in a manner outside the normal flow of free market economics, which is kind of like a bailout.

Secondly, you are asking people to change their behavior, which is an extremely difficult ask. One of the things Jeff Bezos would say (and I doubt he’s the first) is that if you want people to change their behavior, you can’t ask them to try harder. That never works, because eventually they forget and go back to whatever was optimal for them prior to the behavior change. Instead, you need to change the environment they exist in - new rules, new features, lower prices - something to make what was formerly not compelling enough suddenly desireable.

That’s a long winded way of saying that this poster hurts small businesses. And it does so by temporarily deluding business owners into thinking they don’t have to change and adapt to the new economy in which we live, assuming they see any bump in business at all as a result of this poster. Because when that bump in business fades, as it undoubtably will, will these businesses be ready? Instead, they need to be trying all kinds of things, in search of that radical innovation that will change the environment for their customers (and ultimately, change their buying behavior). Traditional local retail is dead. They need to be expanding their brands online, using social media, selling online on sites that aggregate thousands of businesses together (to generate online economies of scale), and create lasting relationships with their customers.

There are many examples of independently owned retail stores that are very successful today. These folks have adapted and figured out how to thrive, and should be a model for everyone else. Asking people to spend $600 a year when really most will spend some the first month and then forget about it is not a long term solution.